Hong Kong CNN —Two tickets for passage on what could be the first Chinese rocket ship to take tourists to space were sold Thursday, according to a livestream held by the company, as the country’s commercial space firms aim to join a small but expanding global space tourism industry. Some 3 million people tuned in to the broadcast on Chinese shopping platform Taobao, which was the first time a Chinese firm has put tickets for space tourism up for public sale. Deep Blue Aerospace CEO Huo Liang (center) sells two tickets for his company's 2027 spaceflight alongside two hosts during a livestream on commerce platform Taobao. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin completed its first commercial human space flight with four private citizens in 2021, while Virgin Galactic, the space tourism venture founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, began offering regular trips to the edge of space last year. Deep Blue Aerospace is not the only Chinese firm with a plan to send humans to space.

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